Abbott Elementary – Festival

By starrymag | March 21, 2023

By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell

 

It’s a stressful time all around at Abbott Elementary. To recap thanks to a petition, next week there’s a school board meeting about transforming the school into a charter school. Ava (Janelle James) has presumably brought them up to speed and now Janine (Quinta Brunson), Jacob (Chris Perfetti), Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter), Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) and Gregory (Tyler James Williams) are in the teachers’ lounge discussing the meeting that is scheduled to take place next week. Melissa feels like it’s a lost cause because the school board always screws them over. Jacob is freaking out because he says he can’t be a charter school teacher. Gregory wonders if the teachers’ union can help, but Melissa says all they can do is find them jobs if they’re fired.  Barbara shares she really thought she got through to Draemond (Leslie Odom Jr.). In a one-on-one with the cameras, she explains that as his former teacher she hoped that Draemond had taken her words to heart, but no such luck.

 

So now what? For starters, if Abbott goes charter then they don’t know who’ll be asked to stay and who’ll have to leave. This goes for students and teachers alike. Janine, ever the optimist, says no matter what happens they’ll always be Abbott Elementary. Ava walks in and says that the name will change to Legendary Schools Presents: Abbott Charter. The teachers want to try and save Abbott and they think the best way to do that is by rallying the parents. Meanwhile, Barbara plans to butter up school board members. And…Ava is headed to an undisclosed location.

 

Later, Janine bumps into Krystal (Raven Goodwin). If you need a reminder, she’s the mom with the bitch tattoo. She starts to explain the Legendary Charter situation, but Krystal has already read up on the proposal and supports keeping Abbott a public school. Thankfully, she signs Janine’s petition. Then, she tells Janine that her clothing line comes in petite.

 

Back in the teacher’s lounge it’s mostly bad news. Barbara says that Draemond has already gotten to her school board contact, so she won’t be on their side. This causes an outburst from Jacob. He says he’s been having night terrors about the prospect of Abbott going charter. Then, he confesses this all feels like a waking nightmare. After this Janine runs in and says they’re going to save the school. Why? Because she got one parent to sign her petition. She’s taking it as a sign that they can get the parents on board if they engage them.

 

After school they try to get more parents to sign but with little luck.  A lot of them are distracted or are eager to get to work. Melissa and Barbara have hit a wall. They ask who Janine got to sign the petition and the answer is disheartening to hear. Barbara says that, of course, Krystal signed as she’s one of the most active parents. Not, every parent is going to be as invested as she is though. They go back inside feeling the parents are a lost cause. That is wen Ava shows up with a plot twist: she was at a job interview at Legendary Schools. Janine is appalled and tells Ava she is supposed to be trying to save the school. Ava says she has been trying, as she even went to the school board. She states that realistically if they fail that the principal will likely be the first go. Janine suggests a school-wide meeting for the teachers to brainstorm.

 

At the meeting everyone is on edge. Jacob says he can’t believe they might all get fired. Mr. Morton (Jerry Minor) states they might not all get fired. Jacob lashes out that he’s had just about enough of him. As a reminder, Mr. Morton is Jacob’s nemesis. He apologizes for the outburst and says Mr. Morton really knows how to push his buttons. Everyone momentarily looks confused and then Ava walks in. They talk more about the petition and Ava suggests putting fake names on the petition; however, the teachers nix it. Janine suggests distracting Legendary schools by petitioning to take over Addington. Jacob makes a joke about hostile takeovers and Mr. Morton says it’s not the best time to lighten the moment. In response Jacob jumps to his feet and yells at Mr. Morton that they can “get nuts” if that’s what he wants. He then apologizes and sits down. Moving on, a teacher named Ally suggests bribery and Melissa reminds them they don’t have the money.

 

Barbara then surprises everyone by saying that they’re going to have to trick the parents. Lying isn’t her first choice, but it’s a dire situation and they need to win. Janine feels that’s wrong as they need to inform people. But Melissa feels like tricking them is the more realistic way to go. Janine wonders how and inadvertently suggests a festival where all the parents come and sign. The group thinks it’s a good idea and Ava, naturally, acts like it was all her idea. In fact, they’re going to call it AVAfest: A Very Abbott Festival.

 

The next day is preparation for AVAfest. Barbara is working on a motivational speech and a possible song. Janine is getting the step team to practice a routine. Jacob is going to be in a dunk tank because a lot of the parents find him annoying. Mr. Johnson (William Stanford Davis) is getting the school extra clean and preparing for war. Gregory is mediating a macaroni and cheese conflict among the kitchen staff.

 

Later, after Janine reassures some of her worried students, we see that Gregory is worried that they don’t have enough to attract a big crowd. So, Janine suggests that they call Tyriq (Zack Fox). She admits that it’s not ideal, but he’s from the neighborhood and people like him. Plus, due to the time crunch they can’t exactly be picky about entertainment. Gregory says no because he thinks Tyriq is a wild card.

 

After school Mr. Johnson and Ava are discussing logistics in the gym. Mr. Johnson warns Ava that the scoreboard is in bad shape, but she’s nonplussed. Then, Gregory and Janine enter and say they think they need something flashy to make AVAfest a true success. Ava says it’s already handled because she booked Jazmine Sullivan. Everyone is impressed, except Jacob (who doesn’t know who Jazmine Sullivan is) and Gregory who just looks doubtful.

 

It’s time for AVAfest and there is a good turnout. However, the bad news is that the folks who showed are more interested in the activities than Janine’s information session. In that vein, a lot of people want to dunk Jacob. This includes Mr. Morton, who does in fact hate Jacob. On an unrelated note, Amber (Naté Jones) shows up. She got the expensive purse she wanted and has a new boyfriend. Gregory is shocked since they have not been broken up that long, but she says Jacob will find him someone more his speed.

 

The festival goes on and Janine and Gregory note that people are getting restless about the headliner. They ask Ava where Jazmine Sullivan is, but she laughs and says the singer would never show up there. Ava points out that Barbara said they should lie, so she did. Janine and Gregory point out that was only supposed to be to the parents. Life lesson: Ava’s lies don’t discriminate. But never fear, Gregory had a feeling Ava might be Ava so he called Tyriq.

 

It turns out Tyriq burned bridges with both F.A.D.E and Legendary Schools, so he was super available for the gig. On the upside, the crowd likes his rapping. Even Barbara is grateful for the sexually explicit music because it’s preventing the parents from leaving. The party is in full swing and everyone’s having fun. That’s when Draemond walks on stage and interrupts the performance. He tells all the parents that they’ve been brought here under false pretenses, which doesn’t go over well. He adds that the teachers fear progress and want to hold their children back.

 

But the parents have questions. Some wonder what’s so bad about Abbott. Others point out that the teachers are doing good things for their kids. Draemond says he went to Abbott and Barbara helped him, but he can’t promise anyone’s jobs will be safe other than Barara’s if Abbott becomes a charter school. Krystal asks why Legendary Schools does use its money to improve Abbott as a public school. Joshua’s mom is there, and she points out that Addington kicked out her son and the same could happen to the rest of their children. Draemond tries to spin things by saying they’re just selective about who attends their charter schools. However, the crowd doesn’t like the odds their kids would have with Legendary Schools’ lottery system, so Draemond gets booed off the stage.

 

The party continues, the step team performs, more parents sign the petition and even Jacob and Mr. Morton hug it out. AVAfest seems like it was a success. Draemond comes over to Barbara and she says she hopes there are no hard feelings between them. Draemond replies that this, the community rejecting the charter school proposal, takes a lot off his plate. When he leaves Barbara says that as a teacher you have to give your students your best and you hope that they carry that with them. Still, she shares that once they’re adults they have choices to make and that Draemond has chosen to be a jackass.

 

After all is said and done the teachers are relieved, especially Jacob who thinks he’s turned a nemesis into a friend until Ava bursts his bubble by saying Mr. Morton said he still hates him. At any rate, the teachers were impressed and think they should rally the parents more in the future. But, after such a long day they decide to leave the rest of the cleanup until tomorrow and call it a night. As they’re about to leave the scoreboard falls onto the floor. This doesn’t alter their plan to leave for the day. Janine lingers and wants to try and pick up the scoreboard. Luckily for Janine, and her back, Melissa yells after her to not try. She then follows the rest of her teachers out of the gym.